


more than metal

by stardustgirl



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: (sorry yue), Bi-Curiosity, Canon Bisexual Character, Canon Compliant, F/F, F/M, Internalized Homophobia, I’m p sure kyoshi’s canonically wlw ?? But if not she gives off those vibes lol, Korra/Asami Sato-centric, Korrasami is Canon, Overcoming Internalized Homophobia, Past Relationship(s), Poetic style, Pre-Canon, Toph Being Awesome, not beta read we die like the moon, this was exactly 700 words on google docs and now it’s not so I’m sad, ~ and that’s the tea ~
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:20:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25051579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardustgirl/pseuds/stardustgirl
Summary: Korra is twenty-one and in a swamp she was tricked into, late at night, when Toph says,It's not just metal that’s in your blood, is it?Korra hesitates before shaking her head.There’s fear, too, fear that reaches beyond the metal.  And a fire...?Maybe.Toph’s smile widens, and she says,Tell me about her.And Korra does.
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato, Korra/Mako (Avatar)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 157





	more than metal

**Author's Note:**

> I binged all of LoK in seven days and finished yesterday and I almost cried at that ending so anyway have some korrasami bc I’m soft for them :)
> 
> TW: Internalized Homophobia/Biphobia (it’s like. very much there and it’s not hidden aha. so if this is a triggering subject do what’s best for your mental health y’all)

Korra is seven when she first has the thought.  _ I wish I could marry her, but that’s silly. Only boys can marry girls. _

Korra does not think like that again for many, many years.

* * *

Korra is thirteen, rushing rushing rushing through her training with the White Lotus yet still stuck at home, when a ship comes to talk trade with her small village. It’s then that she first hears reference to the fact that a boy and a boy—or a girl and a girl—can get married.  _ It’s wrong, _ she thinks.  _ I like boys. Why would anyone  _ not  _ like the other gender? _

She doesn’t remember the thought that struck her when she was younger.

* * *

Korra is fourteen, and the trade ship is back with a girl who’s become a pen pal of sorts to her. They embrace, they spend the day together, and somehow the topic comes up. Korra barks out a laugh at the idea that the girls knows two men who got married, until she realizes that her friend is not joking.

_ What would you do if  _ I  _ was lesbian? _ she asks. Korra’s expression sobers quickly.

Their letters become few and far between after that.

* * *

Korra is seventeen when she leaves for Republic City and meets Mako and Bolin and Asami. She is still seventeen when Asami mentions an old girlfriend offhandedly, and Korra does a double take. She tries to hide it; she knows it’s something that’s more  _ allowed  _ here in Republic City. They all know she’s from the Southern Water Tribe, and that she was trained by bending masters from all over, several of who shared her people’s beliefs regarding  _ that, _ and they can also tell that she is still trying to learn and be better so they don’t fault her (not out loud, at least) when she’s oddly silent whenever the topic comes up.

She kisses Mako in a rush of feeling, because girls like boys and  _ maybe  _ Korra finds Asami pretty but she would never admit that to anybody but herself and Naga. She likes boys. She likes boys. She likes boys.

* * *

When Korra is eighteen, and Asami mentions that though her ex has found someone else now, they’re back on speaking terms, Korra smiles encouragingly.

_ What’s she like?  _ she asks shyly. Smiling, Asami tells her.

* * *

Korra is nineteen and forced to heal without rushing when she reads a book Jinora sent, one about one of the past Avatars, Kyoshi—one of the lives her  _ mistake  _ killed, a voice deep within her head hisses—and how she had taken a female lover.

Korra finishes the book quickly but doesn’t write back to Jinora, and lets the book sit and collect dust in a corner of her room.

She’s terrified, she realizes.

* * *

When she is twenty, Korra realizes that though she loves Mako, she does not love him the same way she used to.

She does not answer his letters.

She asks Asami not to tell him or Bolin of their own.

* * *

Korra is twenty-one and in a swamp she was tricked into, trying to find herself, and it’s late at night when Toph says,  _ It's not just metal that’s in your blood, is it? _

Korra hesitates before shaking her head. Toph smiles, and for once, it seems it’s without a joke at Korra’s expense.

_ There’s fear, too, fear that reaches beyond the metal. And something...else. A fire...for a certain someone, maybe? _

_ Maybe. _

Toph’s smile widens, and she says,  _ Tell me about her. _

And Korra does.

* * *

She’s twenty-one and at Varrick and Zhu Li’s wedding, sitting and looking at the pink-purple-blue mountains with Naga napping at her side when Asami approaches her.

_ Let's go on a vacation, just the two of us. Anywhere you want. _

Korra hasn’t been bold about anything like this since before the poison. She’s terrified, too.

_ Girls and girls can’t get married. Boys and boys can’t get married. _

_ But love is still the same. And I’m not in the South Pole anymore, and we’re not living under the rule of people too stubborn to budge. We’re living under our own hearts. _

Asami smiles, and when they leave the next night, Korra feels that this might be something that’s okay not to rush.


End file.
